146 Mr. E. Newton’s Notes of a Visit of this organ in the Bustard, the existence of which, we think, must now be considered as placed beyond controversy. We trust that our correspondent will continue to give the subject his attention, and that he may be fortunate enough to ascertain satisfactorily the part this singular structure fulfils in the bird’s economy. With regard to the paper, in a former volumeof the ‘Ibis,’ to which Dr. Cullen alludes, we may take this opportu- nity of remarking that it was therein suggested (Ibis, 1862, p. 111) that the original preparation of the pnuch, made by Douglas, its first discoverer, might have been that said by Mon- tagu to have been contained in the Leverian Museum. The truth of this suggestion is confirmed by a copy recently received by us from Mr. Osbert Salvin, of the Sale-Catalogue of Dono- van’s ‘London Museum and Institute of Natural History,’ which is stated to have contained, among other specimens of birds, “the entire collection of the British series in the late Leverian Museum ”; while the last lot (878) in the sale is described as con- sisting of a group of Great Bustards, in mrhich is included (‘ the very singular water-pouch of the male bird, discovered by Dr. Douglas.” Donovan’s collection was sold in 1817 or 1818, and it is therefore quite possible that this specimen, possessing so much historical interest, may yet be traced further.-ED.

X1V.-Notes of a Visit to the Island of Rodriguez. By EDVARD NEWTON, hI.A., C.M.Z.S.

ON the morning of the 26th October, 1864, I sailed from Port Louis, in H.M.S. ‘ Rapid’ ; and on Sunday, the 30th, after a comfortable voyage, we sighted what was supposed to be the island of Rodriguez. As it lay dead to windward, our captain thought there was no use in working his men, on their only day of rest, by beating up ; so he left off steaming and quietIy took a north-easterly course, expecting that we should be close to the land the next morning, and be able to get in without trouble, To o w disgust, the next morning showed us the island at least thirty miles to windward, thereby proving that what had been seen the day before was only land in imagination. Hereupon we began steaming again, and did all we could ; but the ‘ Rapid’

to the Island vf Rodriyuez. 147

belies her name, and at sunset we were still some fifteen miles from Port Blathurin, which lies about midway on the nor th side of the island. As the reefs extend many miles f r o m t h e coast, and are supposed to be not accurately laid down on t h e chart, we stood away to the north-east for the night. A t daybreak on the 1st November the land was well to leeward j but t h e wind was light, and it was nearly midday before we h o v e to for the pilot, a corporal of our police, who came on board with the police magistrate (the governor, so to speak, of the islandj, and two other gentlemen. The latter had gone down in t h e colonial steamer ‘Victoria,’ about a fortnight before-one for h is amuse- ment, the other to vaccinate the population. On board thc ‘ Rapid ’ with me were Captain gnson, R.A., and a magistrate who was going on in the ship to visit the Chagos and other dependencies of this place in the Indian Ocean.

On landing at two o’clock we found the rest of the party who had gone down in the ‘Victoria’ (among whom was Captain Barkly, aide-de-camp to the Governor of Mauritius) established in the prison of the island, which at the time of their arrival happened to be without any of its legitimate occiipants. Before starting, all the members of this company had made t h e greatest profession of collecting all subjects of natural history ; but I found that, beyond a few ferns and an infinity of walking-sticks, next to nothing had been done. Many of the islets had been visited, and innumerable birds’ eggs, chiefly of Terns, had been brought away; but all had been smashed or eaten except one or two of the beautiful white G9gis candida, which had been boiled hard by way of preserving them ! They had also a few skins of Terns; but the sexes had not been identified. Of hind- birds they had hardly seen any, and declared there was only one species-a yellow bird-on the island j but that they had not procured. One gentleman, however, said he had seen sonic bird as big as our “Blartin” (Acridofheres tristisj, but altogether different from it.

With this gentleniari I immediately started, and proceeded some three miles to the westward, k t q i n g half a mile or so from tile shore, or sonietirnes wallring on it. The sun was broiling hot, and nearly the ahole nay a as up and down hill. The:

148 Mr. E. Newton’s Notes of a Visit

country was covered with grass, pretty well eaten down by cattle ; here and there were scrubby trees, mostly the resinous ‘‘ Bois d’olive,” a Vacoa (Pandunus, sp. ?), different, of course, from any- thing in Mauritius, and an Acacia, very like A. lebbek. The island is very well depicted in Mr. Higgin’s drawings, engraved in “The Dodo and its Kindred” (plates iii. and iv. bis). It may be generally described as a long hog-backed range of hills, running from east to west, and sending out spurs to the sea-coast. The height in the centre may be from 1000 to 1500 feet. There is no forest, so far as I could learn; and the tradition is that it was destroyed by fire some forty or fifty years ago; but this story I think must be incorrect, as otherwise in so short a time there would surely be some traces of it left, whereas there are none. Moreover I cannot find that Leguat speaks of it as being anything thcn beyond what it now is; and the place of his settlement, with the trees dotted about, is drawn, barring the Solitaires, just as it is now.

To go on with my story: I soon saw the “yellow bird,” which a negro who was with me called a “zozo (i. e. oiseau) du pays,” and declared at first to be the only bird in the island. B e afterwards admitted the existence of a r r Perruche” ; but that, he said, was all. The “yellow bird” was perfectly tame; and on shooting one, I at once saw that it was of the same species as the skin sent from here, nearly twenty years ago, by Colonel Lloyd, and which I had been lately disposed to think was an accidental variety either of Foudia madagascariensis or F. erythrocephala. I t is, however, decidedly distinct, and a very well-marked spe- cies* too. I t has a very pretty song, not unlike tbat of the

* The specimens sent home by Mr. Edward Newton were exhibited at the meeting of the Zoological Society of London, 4th January, 1865, and the following diagnosis given of the species therein designated.

“ F. major, capite et pectore pulchre luteis, alis unifasciatis, pedibus vali- dioribus.

“ Descr. maris adulti. Olivaceo-virens, dorvc sti-iolato; subtus pallidior ; capite, collo, pectore et urol)ygio pulchre luteis, capistro et genibus rubro-aurantiaco ardescentibus ; abdmine niedio albido-lutescerlte ; alis albido late unifasciatis ; regionibus ophthalmicis nigris ; rostro gincili, subincurvo, nigro ; pedibus wlidioribus, dilute brunneis ; iridi- hus perfuscis.

j L Long. tots 5, a h 2.72, c u d z 1.9, acrotuisi -85, dig. meJ. cull1 un-

“ FOUDIA FLAVICAWS, sp. nov.

to thc Island of Rodriy;iez. 140

Xuropean Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans), while the two other species of Foudia, just mentioned, are almost songless. I n habits it resembles F. erythrocepliala in its way of picking amongst the extreme buds and lezves of branches, hanging often back down- wards. I t s beak is long, and more like that of this species than of F. madagascariensis. It is exceedingly numerous, and though many had paired, and were evidently breeding, I saw a flock of at least one hundred, all in the brown stage of plumage, and probably many of them therefore immature birds. The adult hens are dark brown, like the same sex in the other two species. I shot two pair, and had them skinned by Isidore Legentil, who had gone down in the ‘Victoria’ to collect plants for $1. Bouton. Soon after I shot them I came upon a small flock of “ Perrwhes,” and got a right and left shot, but the first one the fellow did not inark (though it was as dead as a herring), and I only managed to pick up the second. This was to all appearance identical with the Mauritian and Madagascar species (Agapornis cana), and as the bird is said to have been introduced into Rodriguez, I have no doubt it is so. The man who was with me tried to assure mc that it came from America; but this assertion was afterwards explained by the police magistrate, who told me that the first examples were brought thither by an Ame- rican whaler, which had got them in Madagascar.

Going on to a hill, where the negro said there were wild Guinea-foi\ 1, I heard a deep and most melodious meruline whistle-one note only, and then a sort of ‘ I tehou-ti-tchou,” as of a Nightingale. On my asking the creole what the bird was, he said, “$a m&me zozo du pays avec li bec et li queue long- long.” Going up, I saw what looked to me like a Calamodyta, holding his head down, and jerking his tail over his back. He almost inmediatcly flew away, and I fired an ineffectual shot at him; bnt he stopped in another bush close by, and I killed

gue *75, hallucis cum ungrie .64, rostri a fronte +56, ejusdem a rictu .54 poll. Augl. et tlec. “ Descr. femicc~ adultre. Fuseo-virens, tlorso striolato ; subtus mnlto

pllitlior ; alis late unifasciatis ; rostro et iridilms perfuscis ; pcdibiis tuxis.”--En.

150 Mr. E. Newton’s Nuts ufo Visit

him *. I have little doubt that this is a new species. From what I can make out, it is probably one of the Drymczcince, and nearly allied to the genus Orthotomus. Its habit, too, of raising its tail is just as Dr. Jerdon describes in 0. Zongicuuda (B. Ind. ii. p. 166). If my supposition is right it will be satisfactory, as affording another proof of the connexion between the Mascarene Islands and India; and this will be the case should Rodriguez, the easternmost one of them, be found to possess an Indian form which the more western membersof the group are without. I have no doubt that my new bird is exceedingly common in that island; and if I had only had the time, I could have got a good series of specimens.

After this we had to turn homewards. We walked chiefly on the beach ; and I saw, as I think, a Curlew (Numenius urquatus)- not Whimbrel ( N . phczopus) ; and I had a shot at a Turnstone (Styepsilas interpres), of which I saw a flock of some six or seven.

After dinner it was arranged that we should start in boats at midnight, the tide then serving, for the caves on the south-west side of the island. We eventually got off about one o’clock in the morning of the 2nd November. The police magistrate took Captain Anson, myself, and three others in his whale-boat. The Captain of the ‘ Rapid ’ took in his Captain Barkly, and two

* The specimen thus obtained mas exhibited at the Meeting of the zoological Society, 4th January, 1865, and was characterized as follows :-

‘‘DRYhlC3CA (?) RODERICANA, Sp. noV. w D. supra cinereo-olivacea, subtus ffavesceus, annulo periophthalmico

paroticisque albis flavido tinctis. 6‘ Descr. rneris adulti. Ttostro gracili, sub apicem emarginato ; maxilla in-

curvata ; mandibula recta, ultra medium levissime sursum inclinata ; naribus basalibus, superne membrana clausis, inferne rima longitudinali ape& ; rictu setoso ; alis brevioribus, rotundatis, remigum prim0 bre- vissimo, secundo abrupte longiore et IIOUO zequali, tertio quarto e t quint0 subrequalibus longissimis, externe emarginatis ; cauda rectrici- bus decem, elongata, gradata ; acrotarsis longiusculis. Supra cinereo- olivacea, flexura flavescente, remigibus rectricibusque olivaceo-fuscis, illis extcrne griseo limbatis; subtus pallide flavescens, annulo per;- ophthalrnico paroticisque albis pallide flavido tinctis ; maxilla per- fllsca flavo limbata ; mandibula flava ; pedibus schistaceo-brunneis.

“Long. tota 5.75, alae 2.8, caudze 2.6, acrotarsi .9, dig. med. rum nngue .i%, Iiallucis cum uuguc .51, rostri a frontc *54, ejustlem a rictu - 7 pull. Ang1. et dec.”--ED.

to the Island of Rodriguez. 151

more of the party. The latter boat was manned by four blue- jackets, as well as the pilot to show the way, while we had only two policenien for our crew. As we went inside thc reef, the night was spent in poling, and occasionally rowing, and I scarcely got a wink of sleep. Towards daylight we passed by some islets, from one of which proceeded a clamour like that of a distant crowd-produced, we were told, by the (‘ Fouquets ” (Pusnus chlorolhynchus 7) ; and as the day dawned, I saw several Shearwaters sailing round it. Froni another islet harsher sounds were heard, and these were from the Boobies (Xula piscator) just waking up. I could see many of them sitting on the low bushes, while others were starting off for their day’s fishing. How I wished I could have had time to have spent a day on each of the islets, or at least to have visited them ; I might have had just such a trip as Mr. Salvin’s to the Keys of Hon- duras (Ibis, 1864, p. 872), and I dare say have got as many eggs. But it was not to be done ; we were bound to the caves, and to the caves we must go. About six o’clock we landed, and at once walked up to the first cave, about a quarter of a mile inland. This part of the island appears to be quite flat, and one mass of rock. However, some stunted shrubs manage to grow ; and there were several of the yellow Foudia about, singing cheerfully, and I likewise heard one of the new Drymma (?) also singing. The cave was much the same as all other caves-plenty of stalactites and stalagmites; the width about 50 feet, the height from 20 to 70 feet ; the floor nearly flat, and generally covered with a deep fine sand, perfectly dry. Very little stalagmite formation appeared to be going on at this season. Near the entrance were a few crumbling pieces of land-tortoise shells, which fell to pieces ’on being picked up. I longed for a few shovels, and a lot of men to dig; but on the present occasion it would have been out of the question. The length of this cave was said to be three-quarters of a mile, and the effect was very good when we burnt a blue light. We then returned to the boats, and sailed back some three miles on our homeward voyage, when we stopped for breakfast. I had a most agreeable set of com- panions, but they were not exactly suited for such an expedi- tion as I had in view.

N. s.-VOL. I. 11

152 hfr. E. Newton’s Notes of n Visit

About eleven o’clock we started for another cave, about two miles off. I t was most intensely hot, and we soon found that our guide knew but little of the way; so I suggested a halt in order that he might go on and find out where he was. I n two minutes we were all sound asleep, and so we remained for nearly an hour, when somc one heard the guide shout, and on we went again, up a small rivulet with steep sides, the water in which was brackish and quitc undrinkable by itself, and amid a grove of thick fan-palms. Here I saw the only forest trees I came across ; they were “bois d’olive,” and perhaps sixty or seventy feet high, and three or four in circumference at six feet from the ground. I also saw a pair of my new Drymcpcn, with food in their bills. They evidently had a nest, and I stayed back to watch then], but they both managed to get rid of the food, I suppose by going to their young. I was afraid of missing my way, and so putting the rest of the party to inconvenience, that I could not wait till the birds had found a fresh supply, Arrived at the cave, it was found to be too late to enter, for fear of losing the tide. All m y companions turned back at once, excepting one who went some hundred yards or so inside with me. I picked up a shell or two of a land-tortoise, and two bones ; one of which on examination I find nearly fits the repre- sentation of the left tarso-nietatarsua in Mr. Strickland’s work (plate 15. fig. 2), with the exception that it is as perfect as the right one depicted on the same plate (fig. 3). The other bone is a fragment, of which both the extremities are wanting. Both are almost free from any earthy deposit upon them, and indeed where I found them there appeared to be no drip at all. I n one of the cavities of the tarso-metatarsus there is just a small quantity of white matter-lime, I suppose, in one of its forms, but it comes off easily enough. They are of an ivory- yellow-almost, I should say, tbeir natural colour.

Since my return to Mauritius, I have found that Captain Barkly, when in Rodriguez, picked up a third bone, which at first he thoughtwas onlya turtle’s; but it turns out to be an undoubted right femur of a bird, and similar to the specimen from the Paris Museum figured in “The Dodo ” book (plate 14. fig. 8)*.

* These three bones were exhibited at the meeting of the Zoological

to the Zslnnd of Rodrigum. 153

On getting to tlic boats we immediately started homewards, and, though it was a dead bcat, we sailed back to Port Alathurin, which me reached about six in the evening. The next morning, to my disgust, it was de- cided to return to Mauritius immediately. Notwithstanding that we did not get under weigh till late in the afternoon, that day was a dies noiz to me ; and thus ended my visit to Rodri- guez, where I could have well managed to spend a month to my own advantage. Just before leaving, the police-magistratc brought me two young fledged Foudicc, and they arc now alive here in Mauritius, but will not feed themselves. I am only afraid I may not have time to look properly after thcm.

To sum up the fruits of my trip, besides the Dodo’s bones, I have one, if not two, new syeciesof birds. There may be other land-birds, but the people could tell me nothing about them. I beard of a “ Seriii ” (Cr i thuya ?), a “ Bengali ” (Estrekda ?), and a Dove ; but whether indigenous or introduced they could not say. There are certainly no Hawks, or ‘( Merles ” (Hypsi- petes), or Swallows. Of sea-birds, there are Noddies (Anous stolidus), and Sooty Terns (Onychoprion fuliginosa), X twna velox, and the Gygis; also one, if not two, species of Shearwater (Pafinus), the Booby, and Frigate-bird (Fregata) j of the last I only saw one individual; besides the Curlew and Turnstone before mentioned. Wild Guinea-fowls are common ; they appear to me to be from the Madagascar stock (Nurnida tiurata), and not the African. Of Dodos’ remains no one knew anything more than that, “ long temps passi, di monde, n’a pas conn6 qui, fin vini rod6 pour li ; ” which, being interpreted, means, “ a long time ago, someone, I know not who, came and looked for it,” and this was all the information I could get. I was told that the eggs of the Foudia vav icans] were blue, and

Society on the 14th February ; haviog been identified as the right femur, the left humerus, and the left tarso-metatarsus of Didus nazarenus, Rartlett (P. Z. S. 1851, pl. xlv. p. 284),-the very large species of Dodo, which as so strangely confounded by Messrs. Strickland andMelville with the long-legged .‘ Solitaire,” Pezophaps solitarius, Strickland (purtim). They will he figured in the Zoological ‘ Proceedings ’ for the current year. -ED.

But to conclude my story.

__~_. __

M 2

154 Mr. E. I?. Ramsay on the Nests and

those of the Drymceca [rodericana] were white, without spots. I was shown an old nest, said to be that of the former; and I have no doubt it was so, as it was in every way the same as that of the common species here.

Mauritius, November 1864.

XV.-On the Nests and Egys of some New Zealand Birds. B ~ E D W A R D P. &AMSAY.

I HAVE just received a batch of birds’ nests and eggs from my friend R. Huntley, Esq., of St. Mary’s, Wellington, New Zealand; and not having seen them described in any ornitho- logical publication, I have come to the conclusion that a few notes on the subject may prove acceptable to the readers of the Ibis.’

As my stay in Wellington was very short, I cannot describe many species from my own experience, and I must therefore have recourse to Mr. Huntley’s information, and take his authority for the identification of the birds. I may mention, however, that the native names, which he sends along with the scientific ones, perfectly agree with those given in Mr. G. R. Gray’s “List of the Birds of New Zealand,” contained in a former volume of the Ibis’ (1862, pp. 214-253).

ANTHORNIS MELANURA (G. R. Gray, loc. cit. p. 218). ‘( Honey-Eater,” “ Mocking-bird,” “ Mocker,” Lc., of the

Colonists. Kohori-mako of the Natives. This species of Honey-eater constructs a neat cup-shaped

nest of dry twigs and roots, generally lined with fine rootlets and grass ; but examples from the neighbourhood of Welling- ton are invariably lined with white hair and feathers. I t is usually placed among some thick mass of vines and bushes, or boughs clustered with the Creeping-fern (Lomaria Jiliformis), the dry fertile fronds of which are often used in the frame- work. The nests are from 24 to 3 inches in diameter, and 14 inch deep. The eggs are three in number, lo$ to 11 lines in length, by 8 to 8; lines in breadth. They are white or pinkish white, with irregular spots of pinkish salmon-eolour crowded